Beetle

Animal Series

by Adam Dodd

Ancient and strange, beetles call to mind a lost world of Egyptian magic and belief—a reminder of the fascination they’ve long held for human culture. In Beetle , Adam Dodd offers a richly illustrated, engaging account of the natural and cultural history of the beetle, from its origins more than two hundred and fifty million years ago to the present, when its anatomy is inspiring cutting-edge developments in cybernetics. Along the way, Dodd explores the incredible variety of beetles on earth—there are more than 350,000 species—and their amazing ability to exploit nature’s niches. He also takes readers on a wide-ranging tour of the countless ways that beetles have infiltrated our art, folklore, literature, and religious beliefs. Stolid, secretive, and still-mysterious, beetles continue to exert a powerful pull on naturalists and collectors today, and no beetle fanatic will want to miss Dodd’s winning appreciation of their history.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Nature

224 pages, Paperback

First published November 15, 2015

Reviews

[Srđan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a very personal and passionate short overview of the beetles' importance in our world. It is divided in 5 chapters: Coming to terms with beetles, Sacred beetle, Scientific beetle, Managing beetles (or beetles as pests) and Popular beetle (beetles in popular culture). It sounds less academic then the author's some other texts written for journals, and it clearly voices out his concerns to keep these insects in a positive image with a sense of wonder. Richly illustrated in color, I found many illustrations just randomly placed, instead following the text or at least numerated when mentioned in the text itself. Nevertheless, an enjoyably reading.

[Carol Griffiths · Rating 3 out of 5]

As always with this series, this is an entertaining survey of beetles and everything connected with them - including the VW beetle and The Beatles of pop music fame!

[Twee Beetle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book perfectly insinuates into the whole history of beetles